Back to Normal

It’s been a busy few days for SUBWAYblogger.  Thankfully, I can refocus here now and stop neglecting the site!

In other news, did anyone attempt to go to Times Square to watch the Inaugaration yesterday?  If you did, you were probably pretty pissed.

There were thousands that turned out to watch, but from what I’ve heard, there was no sound!  You could see it all happening on the jumbo screens, but no one thought to set up speakers to hear anything.  Oops.

We’ve been getting lots of comments on our Bar Car idea.  I still think it would be an excellent idea, but apparently most other people are afraid of the devil beer.

What’s Up for 2009? Look back at 2008.

What’s in store for the state of public transportation in New York City?  With how fast things happen, it is hard to say.

What we do know is that 2009 is likely to be the most dramatic we’ve seen in decades.  The MTA is litterally falling apart with over a billion dollars in budget deficits.  Even the current talks of fare hikes are starting to be seen as only the first wave in hikes.  By the end of the year (or even 2010), the fare increase could double.

The system continues crumble around us due to the bare bones maintenence done, and service cuts are to be expected.

One thing is for certain: SUBWAYblogger will be here to chronicle the insanity for the rest of us.  Your contributions are always welcome.

So now it is time to take a look back at our most popular posts from 2008:

  1. New MTA Subway Fares: (March 2008) If you went to the MetroCard machine today to buy a new monthly card and felt an odd sensation in your rear, that was the MTA raping you.
  2. MIT Kids Please Come Hack Us: (November 2008) Apparently, some students at MIT made it a class project to hack the Boston subway system (aka the T).  As a matter of fact, the title of the project is: “The Anatomy of a Subway Hack: Breaking Crypto RFIDs & Magstripes of Ticketing Systems.”
  3. Ads Promoting Islam on the Subway: (July 2008) Let the drama begin. Apparently this September, straphangers will see ads on the subway promoting Islam. (Oh nooo !!) How can we protect our children from these ads that will surely turn them into terrorists instantly?
  4. Man Falls on Tracks, Train Runs Over Him, Survives: (May 2008) An unidentified man fell onto the tracks today at Delancey Street while waiting for the F train.  Luckily he fell in a way which allowed his body to fall into the cutout ditch between the rails.  Lucky?  Definitely, because an F train was just seconds away and ran over his body.
  5. It’s Baaaaack.  Congestion Pricing.: (August 2008) Just when you thought congestion pricing was dead, a weak heartbeat is heard.  In light of the abolutely astonishing deficit facing the MTA next year, the state is starting to get desperate in it’s search for funds.  Let’s back up and review.
  6. Jumper DOA at 49th Street on the N Train: (February 2008) There are reports this morning that there was a person under a train that was dead on arrival at the 49th Street stop on the N train.
  7. The Most Disgusting thing I’ve Ever Seen:  (July 2008) So I’ve seen a lot of gross stuff happen, especially in the subway.  Gross, smelly, oozing homeless feet.  Fat, sweating, pigs of human beings in airconditionless subway cars.  Really, it takes a lot to make my skin crawl.  However, this put me over the edge.
  8. NYPD Flaunts $32,881 Salary?: (August 2008) Is the NYPD really flaunting the new starting salary for recruits?  It’s $32,881.  Where in Manhattan can you live for $32k a year?  Hell, it hard to make ends meet with twice that.
  9. Russian Girl Gets Smacked in the Face on Subway: (June 2008) Video of Russian girl getting smacked.
  10. Bed Bugs Attack Subway: (May 2008) As if we don’t have enough things to dodge in the subway, like homeless bums. Now we have to watch out for bed bugs.

I’d like to thank everyone for supporting SUBWAYblogger over the last three years.  YOU are why we keep this site going, and we love your comments.  Here’s to keeping our jobs and having a happy 2009!

Where’s the icy stairs whe you need them?

The Kia Motors and NBA Tip Off Celebration Event in Union Square is this week.  They’re setting up a basketball court, have a DJ, yadda yadda.  There will be current and former players there too apparently.

It’s all coming up on October 28th.

A publicist for the event says, “To say the least, it-is-going-to-be-insane.”

Perhaps.

Kia paying for this kind of publicity is definitely insane, that’s for sure.

Blogroll Pruning

Took a look at the blogroll today and noticed that there were a bunch if sites I honestly don’t read anymore.  Either I’ve lost interest, or the owner has stopped posting…whatever.  So, I went through an weeded out some of the dead wood.

So the blogroll is a little shorter now.  If you’re on there, that’s because I really do enjoy your site!

Are there any you think should be added?

Death of the Subway Token

Ahhh these were the days…

The New York City subway token, tool and talisman of city life since Vincent R. Impellitteri was mayor, is dead at age 50, transit officials said yesterday.

The causes of death were technology and economics.

Tokens will be sold for the last time on Saturday, April 12, said Lawrence G. Reuter, president of New York City Transit. After 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, May 4 — the moment at which fares will rise, with the price of a single trip jumping to $2 from $1.50 — any token plinked into a turnstile will be spit back out. Bus fareboxes will still accept the token — along with 50 cents cash, thank you — through the end of the year.

Read the rest of this little trip down memory lane on the NY Times Website.

Light Holiday Shopping Rush?

shoppingbags.jpg

Well it is usually this time of the year that I run out of Christmas cheer.  It’s about this time that I am ready to kill people on the subway.

Most of it has to do with obnoxious tourists and their 25 shopping bags cramming into the train cars.

See if you can relate to this scenario.  There you are going to or coming from work.  You have on dress pants or a skirt.  Most dress pants tend to be a somewhat thin, light weight material.  Here comes a 50 something woman with 10 shopping bags in each hand.  As she tries to scoot by you on the train, the sharp corners from her designer shopping bags scratch and scrape your legs.

I’ve actually had a person put a small hole in my pants like this ones.  Soooooooo pissed.  Even more pissed because I didn’t notice the whole until someone pointed it out when I got to the office. And I know it was from this woman on the train because the there was a red scratch on my skin right where the hole was in the fabric.

Anyway, the major rush seems to have already ended.  I’m not seeing as many shoppers on the trains this week as I’ve seen in years past.  The trains are no more crowded than normal it seems.

I did speak to a vendor at the Bryant Park holiday bazaar, and he said it is much slower than last year.  It is much colder this year than it was the previous year.  As a matter of fact, it was pretty warm for December last year, so it brought out tons of people.

Any other mass transit holiday nightmares you would like to share?

Open Thread

Tonight, we asked our SUBWAYblogger Facebook friends to share their craziest experiences on the subway.  Here’s a few of the responses so far:

Franco Barbara
I told a dirty smelly begger to get the fu^k away from me. That was a bad idea. He threw his spare change at me and went nuts. I got him to calm down and he got off the train. Idon’tknowwhyIdidit. He smelledreallybad and I didn’t want him near my dog.

Chris Campbell
well on my way back from coney island to the bronx i was stuck on the 6 train between 125th st and 3 Av-138th st 4 bout an hour and everybody was just yellin and cursin and on the D line 2 coney island some kids under 12 were breakdancin i was like wtf